Hanging strap for street-railway cars.



V. FLOCKER.

HANGING STRAP FOR STREET RAILWAY CARS.

APPLICATION HLED sEPT.15,1915.

1,182,467, Patented May 9, 1916.

1/ VA V1 W and replaced.

VINCENT FLocKnn, or PITTsBnR-GH, PENNSYLVANIA.

HANGING STRAP FOR STREET-RAILWAY CARS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 9, 1916.

Application filed September 15, 1915. Serial No. 50,826.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, VINCENT FLQGKER, acitizen of the United States, and resident of Pittsburgh, county ofAllegheny, State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in ySanitary Removable Hanging ,Straps for Street-RailwayCars, of which the following is a specilication. v

This invention relates to hanger straps provided in street 'cars for thebenefit of standing passengers and the object of this invention is toprovide a hygienic handstrap which cany be quickly and easily detachedfrom itsk supporting rod, cleaned,

Many carfstraps are now provided with a coating or cover of Celluloidwhich is sanltary and prevents `to a great degree the pos-vy sibility oftransferring disease germs from hand to hand, which possibility is. everpresent when the leather of the strap itself is exposed to be grasped bydirty and perspiring hands. Straps having this protective covering ofCelluloid or other'non-absorbent material are sanitary not only becausethey are not so readily infected as leather but Valso becausetheprotective covering is adapted to be cleaned and disiny fected. Incleaning and disinfecting the straps it is highly desirable that thestraps may be taken down from the high rod on which they are supportedand dipped or washed, as to wash and disinfect each individual strapwhile it hangs in the car obviously would require much time, and thedisinfection is not so surely accomplished.

Various methods of fastening hanger straps to their supporting rods havebeen used heretofore, such as providing them with buckles, rivets andscrew-rivets, but these are in the nature of permanent fastenings andnone of these fastening devices allows the hanger strap to be quicklyattached and detached.

My improved hanger strap is quickly detachable and may be taken down andwashed or disinfected and replaced on the supporting rod in a moment,whereby they may be maintained in a sanitary condition withoutmaterially delaying the car.

My invention in a simple form is shown in the accompanying drawings, inwhich Figure 1 is a sectional view of a supporting rod and strap havingmy improved fastening means attached thereto. Fig. 2

is a side elevation of the same. Fig. 3 is a perspective view of adetail'. Fig. 4 is an enlarged longitudinal section of part of myfastening device. Fig. 5 is a top view of the turn button having thehandle omitted. InFigs. 1 andl 2 the rod 10 is the usual iron or woodrod rigidly attached to an ear at or near the top.y Thestrap 11 ispreferably of leather although woven belting or similar material may beemployed, and is arranged in two loops, a small upper loop 12 whichyencircles the rod, and a large lower loop 13 which serves as a grip forthe hand. In they drawings I have shown both loops formed by a singlecontinuous strip of leather' and this is the preferable way of makingthe hanger strap. The lower loop 13 is at all times closed as its endsare se,- curely fastenedv together by rivets 14. The upper loop 12 isheld closed or is opened as desired, itstends not being united byrivetsbut` held together by a separable fastener A, which allows 'theloop to be opened quickly, and without special tools when desired yetholds itl securely closed at other times. The separable fastenerl A,consists essentially of a turn button mounted on one end of the :loop 12and a slotted plate or guard mounted on the other end, the button beingadapted to pass through the slot and to be turned to engage the plate. f

lhe turn button and its supporting mechanism comprises a metal or hardrubber handle 15 having depressions 1G in the sides thereof to formgrips for the fingers, a member 17 having a hollow cylindrical recess 18therein, a cylindrical stem 19 adapted to operate within" the recess 18in the member 17, the members 17 and 19 forming a telescopic swiveljoint, and a coil spring 20 held in an annular recess between the stem19 and the member 17, and adapted to normally press against said membersto hold them together. The inner end of the stern 19 is provided with anoutwardly turned annular flange 23 the diameter of this flange beingapproximately equal to the diameter of the recess 18 in the member 17.The member 17 has an inwardly turned annular flange 24 on one end, theother end being closed. The diameter of the opening in the end of member17 within the flange 24 is approximately equal to the diameter of thestem 19 and the member 17 is movable longitudinally of member 19 butcannot be disengaged therefrom because of the iiangcs 23 and 24Whichabut against and are unable to pass each other. It is necessary inconstructing the joint in this manner that the member 17 be made in twoparts 17u andl 17h. After being tted together around the stem 19 theparts 17n and 17b are fastened together by screws 17c and the Whole actsas one piece and Will be referred to hereafter as such.

The coiled compression spring 20 is placed in the annular recess betweenmembers 17 and 19 and is adapted to press against the flanges 23and 24 at all times, the result of which is to hold the` members 17 and19 pressed`together,- On the other end of loop 12 is fastenedbymeans ofrivets 25 a metal casing or guard 26. This guard ispraised from thestrap a 'considerable' dis-` tance by flanges 27, at right angles to theplate. rlhe plate or guard has cut in its center an elongated slot 28,and has at right angles to this slot a groove or depression 29,

vthe slot being large enough tov permit the passagev of the turn buttonand the groove being of such shape and dimensions as to receive and(engage the turn button.- In closing the loop 12 the metal guardispushed over the handle of the turn' button, the latter is drawnoutwardly bythe fingers against v to go through the slot. In other Wordsthe spring holds the button Anormally Within the slot' or the groove andit can only be turned after pulling it from the slot or groove againstthe pressure of the spring.

cover 30 Which preferably has small metal' collars 31 mounted on theends thereof to prevent liquids running dovvn along the strap under thecover and Which also pro-V vide an ornamental finish.

When my improved hanger strap is used, all of the straps in a car may beremoved, cleaned and returned in a shorter time than can be doneivithstraps heretofore in use.

Y Having thus described my invention What I claim is:

In a street car hanger strap the combination' With a'supporting rod of astrap having a grip portion and a loop surrounding the' rod, and meansfor detachably securing the free end of the loop whereby the strap maybe Quickly removed for cleansing and replaced, said meanscomprising aturn button and a guard having a slot therein, said turn button beingsecured by a spring in locked position and rotatable therefrom to freethe loop. f 'Y In testimony whereof I aflix my signature.

VINCENT FLOCKER.

Copies oi this patent may be obtained for ve cents each,.by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents Washington, D; Gl f

